


I dreamt that you were waiting (for me)

by orphan_account



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: (technically) - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Quirks (My Hero Academia), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Multi, Violence, so many au tags, there will be cameos, this is a superpower au after all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-12 17:16:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19233607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Seonghwa doesn’t really know what he was expecting when he was transferred to the Special Incidents Unit, but it definitely wasn’t this.-----Park Seonghwa had given up on becoming an Special Incidents Unit agent long ago. Heroes in all but name, the SIU selected only the best of the best, and Seonghwa, after all, was definitely not that. His Quirk is all but useless. Something fit for a janitor job at best.So you can imagine his surprise when his boss transfers him to Hansung-gu's SIU team.





	1. New and Shiny

Seonghwa doesn’t really know what he was expecting when he was moved to the Special Incidents Unit, but it definitely wasn’t this.

“Uh, hello?” he ventures, but he’s pretty sure nobody’s even listening to him. Scratch that, nobody has even turned to look at the door, which, before Seonghwa could even open it, had been blasted to the other side of the hallway. Granted it had already looked dangerously close to falling apart even before it had been torn off its hinges, but Seonghwa’s quite certain that you’re not supposed to break down your own office doors, especially not if you’re part of the police force.

Unfortunately, it seems as if his new colleagues haven’t been informed.

Chaos. It’s the only word apt enough to describe the situation inside the SIU’s office. Seonghwa can spot five different people placed in wildly different places, all of them in mildly concerning states.

A young man- boy, really, they all look as young as or younger than Seonghwa, and even he was the youngest promoted detective in the district- is sprawled on top of another boy, both of them hanging awkwardly off the edge of the leather sofa pushed against a wall. The brown-haired boy on top is worryingly still. The one underneath is laughing hysterically, and Seonghwa winces at the sheer volume. Just then, one blonde guy jumps over a desk, crowing out a weird victory song as he topples a tall, floppy-haired man to the ground. He shouts something about a finger flick, and the taller one flails as he tries to avoid the blonde’s hands. An even taller guy is clutching to the wall, laughing. There are empty takeout boxes (mostly of various chicken restaurants in the near vicinity) piled in random clumps in one corner, like a particularly angry farmer’s haystacks in the field. Various items are placed haphazardly upon any available horizontal surface. As far as Seonghwa can see, nothing is particularly dirty, but it is a terrible, horrifying mess. Is he dreaming? He probably is.

He’s just about to turn around and exit the room when a disheveled head of red pokes out from behind an office door.

“Will you three- no, make that four, _I know that laugh_ \- literal children quiet down for a bit? Some of us haven’t slept for three days.”

The owner of said disheveled red hair is a short, angry looking man. A very cute man. Seonghwa blames his gay instincts for giving him that bit of information, _before_ reminding him that the guy is probably Kim Hongjoong- the current Captain of Hansung-gu’s SIU team. Before he can say anything incredibly embarrassing, he clears his throat.

“Hello, is this the SIU office? I was trying to read the plaque when, you know…” Seonghwa gestures helplessly at the broken door behind him. “I’m Park Seonghwa. I was recently transferred from General Investigations.”

Cute Redhead’s eyes snap to Seonghwa before widening. “Oh! Oh yeah, you’re in the right place. I’m Captain Kim Hongjoong- sorry about the mess, the kids don’t know how to behave themselves,” he says, giving the still-giggling boys a look. “Come on right in. I’ve got the papers you need to fill out in my office.”

Seonghwa carefully makes his way past the sofa to where Hongjoong is standing. The shorter man opens the door for him, and Seonghwa enters what seems to be a much more orderly office. There are countless books and CD cases lining the shelves on one side. A slated window casts gentle light upon the dark wooden desk that holds a bunch of messy papers and odd devices. Seonghwa feels a sudden urge to organize them, to tuck them into neat piles and into cabinets where they likely belong. Coughing awkwardly, he sits in the seat Hongjoong offers instead.

The redhead plops down into the large, plush chair behind the desk. It actually looks too large for his small frame, the back peeking just over his head. The guy actually shifts slightly from side to side, like a bunny wiggling in its basket, and huffs a satisfied sigh. Seonghwa stifles the urge to scream. He can deal with arrogant commanding officers and jealous coworkers, but he cannot deal with cute and pretty men.

“I really hope you don’t think any less of our team, for that,” Hongjoong says, and Seonghwa almost gapes at him. The man looks serious and sincere as he pulls out a paper file from the mess on his desk.

“For what?” Seonghwa asks dumbly, and then realizes what Hongjoong meant. “Ah, no, of course not. It was very different from what I expected, though.”

Hongjoong pauses in his search for a pen and raises his brows. “Really? Were you expecting anything in particular?”

To be honest Seonghwa had been expecting something akin to one of those spy-flick agencies, or at the very least something close to Japan’s Hero agencies. But neither are appropriate comparisons to make in front of an overworked, understaffed team’s captain.

“I don’t know,” Seonghwa answers. “Probably less chicken.”

At that the captain laughs. “I see what you mean. Well, here’s your new file as an SIU agent, Seonghwa-ssi. Your basic profile from the General Incidents department has been transfer to us, but we do need you to sign a new secrecy agreement and to specify what your Quirk does, exactly.”

“Please just call me Seonghwa,” Seonghwa tells him. He takes the papers with a nod of thanks.

“Seonghwa, then,” Hongjoong says with a smile. “You can call me Hongjoong when we’re not on the field, but on it regulation requires you to refer to me as captain, unfortunately.”

Nervously, Seonghwa laughs. He flips open the file quickly, eyes skimming through the contents. The secrecy agreement is just a general catch-all for SIU investigations, which of course inevitably requires an extra level of information protection. It’s the Quirk profile that makes Seonghwa suck in a breath.

Hongjoong seems to notice his hesitation. His eyes flick to Seonghwa’s face, worry already pooling in their warm brown.

“If there’s anything you feel uncomfortable with, you can tell me,” he says carefully.

Quirks were, and still are, a sore subject for many people. It’s been a while since the government actively tagged people with Quirks and tried to enforce bullshit laws against them, but still with only 40 percent of the world’s population born with a Quirk, there’s a lot of bad situations that the Quirked can fall into. Especially if one’s Quirk is volatile or destructive.

Seonghwa’s not exactly one of those people, but he does feel awkward talking about his Quirk. Not a lot of people did in his old neighborhood. His parents, who are Quirkless, also never understand when he does try to explain it to them.

Maybe it’s harder because Seonghwa’s Quirk is so difficult to explain, even by Quirked standards.

“I’m not uncomfortable with it,” he begins, “but it’s rather difficult to explain.”

“Well then, take your time with that, I’m in charge of the filing anyways,” Hongjoong reassures him. “Though, if there’s anything you can tell me right now…?”

There is. So Seonghwa does.

The local Quirk doctor had labeled it as Scorching Scrutiny. Basically, it’s an observation-slash-analysis-slash-purification Quirk that normally gives Seonghwa a slight boost in his senses. It’s not much, just barely enough to push him above baseline human ability. That’s the passive side of Seonghwa’s Quirk. When activated, however, it boosts Seonghwa’s senses three to tenfold, and slightly accelerates his brain activity. Sometimes when Seonghwa is feeling particularly emotional, he accidentally ‘purifies’ anything he touches. The only catch here is that the purification doesn’t always work on the same things, and it sometimes gets rid of things that shouldn’t be removed. In other words, the Quirk is unstable.

It’s rare that a single Quirk has presentations that seem unrelated. When he explains it to Hongjoong, Seonghwa expects the man to be confused, like most other people. Instead, the captain simply nods and hums.

“Well, that explains why you weren’t recommended for the SIU the moment you were recruited,” Hongjoong says. “They had your Quirk Classified as a Level C low threat sensory enhancer.”

“Really?”

Seonghwa’s not surprised that the doctor who’d Classified his Quirk put it down as a sensory enhancer, but he is surprised that it’s as high as a Level C. Honestly, he’d thought it would’ve been listed as a D or even an E.

"I know it's not a very good Quirk for law enforcement work- it's pretty useless, actually. That's why I never thought the SIU would want me. I don't know why- why I was recommended for this spot, to be honest."

"Nonsense," Hongjoong says sternly. Seonghwa freezes. "There's no such thing as a Quirk that's good for something or not, it's all up to you and how you use it. I've even seen a contract killer with a healing Quirk. Mr. K recommended you to transfer into the SIU, and he certainly thinks you're a great addition to the team. Believe me, Seonghwa, you wouldn't be here if you didn't fit, and from what I see you're going to be an awesome agent."

This time, Seonghwa really does gape at Hongjoong. He knows it's probably gross and unattractive but he can't help it; nobody's ever told him he would make a great SIU agent. Or even a decent one. Truth be told, when Seonghwa was first asked if he wanted to transfer, he'd said yes partially because he'd thought it was a joke.

Chuckling, Hongjoong flaps his hand at the file Seonghwa’s holding. “Anyways, I think we need to get you Reclassified. From what I've heard, your Quirk is at least a Level B. You can take the papers home for now and get back to me with them later,” Hongjoong tells him. “For now, how do you feel about meeting the rest of the team?”

Seonghwa stands up a bit too quickly, and knocks his hip into the edge of the desk. Fortunately, it doesn’t hurt. Unfortunately, it pushes a telescope-like object off the table.

He rushes to catch it- but just before the device hits the ground, it pauses in midair.

“Hongjoong hyung,” someone says from behind him, “You need to put these away properly, before Mingi breaks them again. I’m not going to Chan’s house for more, we’ve already annoyed him enough.”

The device floats gently back onto the table. Seonghwa turns to see a slender, dark-haired young man in the doorway. His face is eerily beautiful, and Seonghwa has to take a second look to make sure that he isn’t a doll.

“Ah, thanks Yeosang,” Hongjoong says. “By the way, this is Park Seonghwa, our newest member. Seonghwa, this is Yeosang.”

Yeosang extends a hand towards Seonghwa. “Telekinesis,” he says, as if in explanation. “Not very exciting, I know.”

Not very exciting? Seonghwa resists the urge to gape again. Telekinesis is a common thing in movies and comic books, sure, but in real life it’s rare enough to have any form of it. Seonghwa’s never seen anybody with a telekinesis Quirk that can be controlled safely.

But before he can respond to the other, Hongjoong whisks him out of the room, directing him towards the chaos outside. Thankfully the laughter has subsided, and the five Seonghwa had seen earlier are up and about. He notices that several of the takeout boxes have vanished as well.

Hongjoong introduces Seonghwa to the other SIU agents rapidly. “That’s Jeong Yunho,” Hongjoong says, pointing to the tallest guy in the room, the one with the puppy face and wide, sincere eyes. “He’s our lead technician, deals with all our equipment. He’s the second to join the team, and his Quirk’s called Radiant Empathy.” Yunho waves at Seonghwa with a bright smile.

“That’s Song Mingi, our resident shapeshifter,” the other tall one, with the floppy hair, “and that’s Jongho, our youngest. His Quirk, Peak Condition, keeps his physical level above the human threshold at all times so don’t ever indulge his arm wrestling tournaments.” The agent in question grins disturbingly at him. He’s the one who had been dead limp on the couch, earlier.

As Seonghwa’s guided across the room towards where the office desks are, someone jumps in their way.

“Is this the new guy?” the blonde asks, tilting his head from side to side. “Hello! I’m San, Choi San, and I’m in charge of any of our undercover ops.”

“No you’re not,” says another voice. This time it’s the dolphin-laugh guy, who seems to have calmed down significantly. “I’m Wooyoung, and I’m the actual one in charge of our undercover operations. If you need anything- hey!”

San pounces on Wooyoung, and Hongjoong quickly steers Seonghwa away from the two as they fall to the ground, squabbling. “I’m so sorry,” the redhead whispers, and Seonghwa can almost see the ghost of his kindergarten teacher hanging over Hongjoong’s face. He winces in sympathy.

“Are they always like that?”

“No… well, yes, but they’re just hyperactive today because the whole office has been running purely on caffeine since last Friday. Our supervisor- that’s Eden, you might have heard of him- left us last week because of a promotion and, well, we’ve been overworked for a while.”

“And understaffed,” Seonghwa murmurs.

Most of the SIU offices around Seoul have at least two or three different teams. Even though SIU teams don’t always strictly work for a certain district, Seonghwa knows that it’s just a technicality.

Hongjoong sighs. “Yeah, well. Hansung-gu’s not very rich. High crime rates, low apply rates. And they just call us the Hansung team whenever we go to one of those SIU gatherings, but we do have a proper name.”

He opens the drawer of one office desk and draws out a glass name plaque, one that reads Park Seonghwa. Placing it on the empty desk, Hongjoong turns to Seonghwa with a small smile. He looks tired but genuinely happy. Seonghwa smiles back, and the other man offers him a sleek black box, embossed with the letters A and Z.

Seonghwa opens it to find a polished metal badge and an ID card. His own face stares back at him from the clear, sturdy plastic. SIU Agent, it reads. Certified. He looks back at Hongjoong, who smirks.

“If anyone asks you, we’re called ATEEZ,” he says. “Welcome to the team, Park Seonghwa.”


	2. Rust and Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Seonghwa struggles with smells, Yeosang floats things, and Wooyoung and San flirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There's some gore in this chapter. Skip the paragraph after "straight out of a slasher film" if it makes you uncomfortable.

“Let me get this straight, we’ve got to go deal with another robbery?”

“Yes.”

“A convenience store robbery?”

“…Yes?”

“Wasn’t it your shift today?”

San puffs his cheeks out at the question, and refuses to meet Seonghwa’s eyes. He doesn’t need to. Seonghwa can very clearly see Wooyoung, satisfied smirk and all, waving at him from the other side of the office. The younger agent winks at Seonghwa when their eyes meet.

Seonghwa sighs, stands up with a groan. “All right, I’ll take this shift, but you’re taking the next one.”

San immediately brightens. “Of course!” he chirps. The young man then tosses him Seonghwa his equipment, which he’d apparently already fetched from the lockers. Seonghwa slips into the uniform coat with ease. The SIU badge clinks slightly as he pulls the coat shut, grabbing his equipment set with one hand. San pushes the car keys into the other, and shoes Seonghwa away with a teasing grin. “Thanks hyung, I’ll make sure you won’t miss anything while you’re gone.”

Behind him, Jongho groans loudly and slams his stack of files onto his desk. It promptly snaps in half.

Seonghwa leaves without saying another word.

It’s been a week since Seonghwa joined the team, and he’s gotten used to most of the antics that happen around ATEEZ. He’s also gotten used to the weird jobs ATEEZ get.

It’s kind of a let-down, if Seonghwa’s being honest. He’d imagined an SIU team to have more exciting cases, but apparently since Hansung-gu’s population is mostly young couples and elderly retirees, there isn’t a whole lot of action. That’s how Hongjoong explained it to Seonghwa after their third day assigned on street patrol. It isn’t much different from when Seonghwa was in the general department, if he’s being honest.

Seonghwa shakes his head and sighs, trudging towards the parking space reserved for ATEEZ’s vehicles.

“Hyung, you’re late,” says Yeosang. His unnervingly pretty face twists into a confused scrunch. “Wait, isn’t it San’s turn today?”

“Wooyoung,” is the explanation Seonghwa gives as he unlocks the car. It’s enough for Yeosang, who sighs in response.

The two make it to the robbed convenience store in record time. Part of it is due to the loose traffic, but most of it is due to Yeosang’s (probably illegal) driving skills. It’s part of Seonghwa’s routine by now, and it’s a bit frightening that, after a week with ATEEZ, Seonghwa can chew on his breakfast roll without screaming at Yeosang for mercy.

He takes it as a sign he’s adapting well.

Inside the convenience store, the cashier who’d called in the robbery greets them with an anxious smile.

“H-Hello,” the cashier stutters, fingers entwining in her bright pink hair. “I’m terribly sorry for all this, you must be very busy.”

Seonghwa assures her gently that she’s most certainly not imposing. She leads the two agents inside the store, maneuvering carefully around the knocked-over shelves of items.

“I left everything the same,” she explains as she gestures towards the mess. “They- they did a bit of damage to the store, ha.”

As they make their way towards where the CCTV backup files are, Seonghwa takes the chance to observe the cashier better.

She’s a young woman, probably a college student working part time. She obviously has a Quirk too- a mutation one- if her unnaturally colored hair and scaled skin is any indication. Seonghwa notices that her pupils are also oddly dilated. She seems to have a narrow range of sight. Even now, the cashier’s hands are constantly moving around her, bumping into things as she answers Yeosang’s questions.

“You’re Kim Yuna, right? Can you tell us what you remember about the incident?”

“Yes. So, um, I wasn’t actually supposed to be on shift today, but Rue- that’s the other employee, she goes to the same college as me- called in sick and the manager asked me to fill in for her? Anyways, there isn’t a whole lot of people in the morning, so I was messaging my friends… don’t tell the manager, she’ll kill me… and then these two men came in the front door.”

Yuna’s hands move slowly over the keyboard, and she blinks carefully as she pulls up the CCTV recording files. Seonghwa thanks her quietly and moves to watch the videos as she continues her recounting of the event.

“They didn’t look that suspicious at first. I mean, the neighborhood around here isn’t that safe in the first place, and a lot of people come in here with masks and hats and stuff. They were covering up their faces but I didn’t notice anything off.”

The video Seonghwa starts is a collage of the footage from two different CCTV cameras inside the store. Two screens pop up, side by side, in blurry 480p quality. Just as Yuna said, two men enter the store in a few moments, one of them wearing a beanie and a mask, the other in sunglasses and a cap.

“But then they started poking around the back of the store. There’s actually a small space where the cameras don’t pick up, so naturally nothing’s there, except for a locked display of figurines and stuff. I- the manager always tell us to never let anyone stay back there too long, apparently some of the customers used to…”

“Ma’am?” Yeosang cuts in gently. “How long did these men stay there?”

“Oh. Uh, I’m not a hundred percent sure. But it was long enough for me t-to get nervous. I was about to call the manager, when I- I just couldn’t move.”

“You couldn’t move?”

“Yes. It was like… I think it was one of their Quirks. Other than my eyes, I couldn’t budge a muscle.”

On the screen, the two men approach the cashier. She’s reaching for her phone when she stops suddenly, just as the taller of the two men knocks into one of the shelves. They don’t seem to pay it much mind as they approach the counter.

The two men don’t exchange any words. The tall one simply ignores the shelf and heads towards the counter.

“I couldn’t do anything when they broke open the cashier,” Yuna explains. “It set off the alarms, of course, but they were gone before anybody came.”

Seonghwa watches, mouth twisting as the men on the screen leave the store. Lights are flashing, but the men take their time. Yuna, whose head is only visible in the corner of the screen, shudders into motion a few moments later. The video ends soon afterwards, freezing on a frame of Yuna speaking into her phone.

“Well, that’s the end of the tape,” Yuna murmurs. “I… I guess there’s no way to catch those two, huh? Oh, the manager’s going to have a field day.” Her face crumples as she blinks fiercely.

“If it’s okay, we’ll take copies of the tape with us. We’ll find them, okay?” Seonghwa says gently.

Yuna nods halfheartedly.

The young woman doesn’t have much to tell them after that. Yeosang asks her for some details as Seonghwa leaves to investigate the fallen shelves and counter.

There isn’t a lot to look at. The shelves, knocked over by the robbers. The broken cash register, emptied out and left in pieces. The tape hadn’t quite caught how the robbers got it open, but the claw gauges in the side of the mangled plastic are fairly evident of a mutation Quirk. Seonghwa measures the sizes of the marks; if this is a registered person it’s likely that the specifics include measurements of the mutated body parts.

Even after finishing his scan of the scene, Seonghwa feels like something’s… off. But no matter how many times he goes over everything, there’s nothing to indicate that this was anything other than a simple robbery. He’s seen the same thing happen often enough while he was just a police officer. The only difference is that the criminals have notable Quirks that were used illegally.

The door behind Seonghwa slams shut. He turns to see Yeosang approaching him with a little frown, Yuna trailing behind him.

“Are you done?” Seonghwa asks. Yeosang nods pointing towards the shelves. “You?” he asks in return.

“Yup, you can do your magic,” Seonghwa sighs. “I couldn’t find much that could point us towards our mysterious robbers.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Yeosang says, sounding more bored than anything.

He blinks, and the shelves lurch upwards, drifting for a moment. They slowly tip back into place. Yeosang then floats the fallen items into midair, but he hesitates before replacing them onto the aisle. He tips his head a little, and asks, “Would you be able to reorder the items? I’m not sure if I can get the placement right.”

Yuna, who’s staring at Yeosang with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, stutters back into motion.

“Of course!” the young woman yelps. “S-sure, I can do that.”

Yeosang smiles at Yuna, and she blushes, green tinting her scaled cheeks. (There should be laws against that smile.) They exchange a few more words and then Yeosang tips his head again. When he and Seonghwa leave the store to take the evidence back to the station, barely an hour has passed since their arrival.

“Think we can catch these guys?” Seonghwa asks as the door swings shut behind them.

The other agent shrugs. “We don’t have a good track record with things like these,” Yeosang says. “We’re trained to hunt down Quirked criminals and to capture them, not to deal with robbers or thieves. Hyung, you were here for Kim-ssi’s theft case yesterday. You saw how we passed it on to Officer Shin until they called us in to catch the guy.”

He actually looks a bit put upon. Seonghwa hasn’t spent nearly enough time with the younger man to understand him well- he’s barely heard him speak about himself- but he can still clearly see the faint pout at the edge of Yeosang’s mouth.

“Then why do y- we keep on receiving these cases? Doesn’t the general police force know what cases you’re supposed to handle?” he asks.

“Of course they do. It’s not their fault though, it’s not just the SIU unit in Hansung-gu that’s underemployed.”

Yeosang reaches for the driver’s side, but Seonghwa bats his hand away with a warning look. The slight pout grows bigger. Seonghwa determinedly ignores it and slides into the driver’s seat. A moment later Yeosang enters the car from the other side, and passes Seonghwa the keys.

Suddenly, Yeosang says, “I know it must be underwhelming.”

Seonghwa glances up from where he’s trying to fit the keys in and raises an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“I mean, I trained for this for years,” Yeosang continues. “When I finally got my SIU license I expected something more… exciting, I guess. And it might be worse for you, because Quirk specialist schools at least try to downplay the role of our Quirks in any future jobs. I know you graduated the police academy like most other officers, so you’re bound to have heard all the rumors about the SIU.”

It’s true. Seonghwa had heard most of the whispered retellings of SIU adventures. Nearly everything about them are classified, but more often than not, detectives and officers are assigned to aid the SIU, and it’s inevitable that some part of what happens leaks out to the rest of them. It doesn’t matter what clearance you have when it comes to gossip.

“Some of it’s true. There _is_ an SIU agent who singlehandedly took down a sex trafficking ring in Busan. The Bangtan team in Gangnam did bring down a branch of the Mafia last year. There was a villain named Raven who attacked the Lotte Tower in January. These things do happen, but not in Hansung.”

“Then why’re you still here?” Seonghwa blurts. Yeosang stares at him. Blushing, Seonghwa rushes to start the car as he hurriedly adds, “you seem like you would’ve been scouted from other SIU teams.”

A low hum comes from the passenger seat. “You’re right,” Yeosang answers after a moment.

He doesn’t elaborate.

Seonghwa pulls out of the convenience store’s parking lot in awkward silence. He tries not to glance at Yeosang too much. At least the other man doesn’t seem too bothered- rather, he seems more contemplative than anything, from what Seonghwa can sense.

The quiet stretches- and snaps with the blare of some song from Yeosang’s phone. They both flinch in surprise.

“Take it, take it,” Seonghwa hisses as he swerves to avoid hitting a car. Yeosang fumbles for a moment before finally swiping the call through.

“Hongjoong hyung?”

“Yeosang?” Seonghwa can hear Hongjoong ask through the receiver. “Are you with Seonghwa?”

“Yeah, we’re heading back to the office,” Yeosang answers. “Why, do we need to pick up some chicken?”

“Why do you always want chicken- that’s not the point! Listen, Yeosang, turn the car around and go to Seolleung-ro.”

“But that’s Dreamcatcher’s area, isn’t it? What would they need us for?”

“They’re out of the country on a mission,” Hongjoong’s voice filters through the phone. “And someone just reported a double homicide. We’re getting the other car ready, wait for us there.”

The call cuts off with an ominous click.

 

 

#####

 

 

The address Hongjoong sends to Yeosang’s phone turns out to be a warehouse. A decrepit, abandoned warehouse. There’s a sign in the front that proclaims the property to be on sale. Nearby, a sleek black motorcycle embedded with the SIU emblem is parked alongside a police car. The motorcycle seems standard issue (Seonghwa’s seen two parked at ATEEZ’s office as well), except for the white dreamcatcher spray-painted on its frame. The warehouse doors are opened wide, and lines of police tape warning people to keep out stretch tightly around the property.

Seonghwa and Yeosang duck under the tape to enter the warehouse.

Inside, it’s even more run down than expected. Metal beams that support the patchy roof are crooked and rusted. Dust and debris litter the floor, patches of light cast over the barren concrete by the worn glassless windows. At the center of the building, three figures stand around something on the floor. Even from here, Seonghwa can smell the metal tang of blood spread across the musty air of the warehouse.

Seonghwa has a sneaking suspicion that it’s the double homicide that they’re here to investigate.

At their approach, one of the three people talking to each other turns to greet them. It’s a young woman in an SIU coat. Her eyes are sharp and bright, and Seonghwa’s almost intimidated for a moment when she looks him up and down. She soon breaks into a small smile, however, and he lets out a breath of relief.

“Yeosang!” the woman calls out. “Glad to see you made it.”

Yeosang bows quickly in response. “Sua-ssi,” he answers. “I thought Dreamcatcher was on a job overseas?”

“Ah, someone had to stay here to keep base,” Sua says lightly. “Though, I didn’t expect something like this to happen.”

She points at the floor in front of her and grimaces. “Better hold your breakfast,” she warns Seonghwa and Yeosang.

They watch as the dark, swirling mist over the floor lifts and dissipates. Underneath it lies a horrific scene straight out of a slasher film.

Two bodies are placed crookedly around each other. Both are completely naked, but they are mangled to the point that Seonghwa cannot tell their sex or age. Pale limbs lie haphazardly in a massive pool of blood. The faces are torn to shreds, and both corpses have their torsos split from collar to hip. The two bodies are positioned in some macabre circle, facing each other with the arms placed carefully between them. A heap of flesh and guts are strewn around them, joining the two victims in a tangled mess.

Seonghwa’s seen many dead bodies during his work, but it still makes him want to hurl.

One of the two men standing next to Sua turns away with his lips pressed into a hard line. He holds out a file to Seonghwa, who hesitantly takes it.

“We got the call at 10:37, from a jogger who smelled something weird around this warehouse. He had a sensory enhancement Quirk, so he decided to check things out and… well…”

They all look at the scene.

“The SIU was called in because we found evidence of illegal Quirk usage on the bodies, and because we think that whatever killed these people is linked to it. Also,” the man says, shaking his head, “we thought it was right up your alley, Sua-ssi.”

Sua scowls a little, eyes intent on the crime scene in front of her. “And we aren’t available right now, so we had to call on Hansung-gu to deal with it. Yeosang, have your team ever dealt with something like this before? Dreamcatcher’ll be happy to lend you our resources for this case, but if you think the main branch should handle it, Changbin’s right here.”

She pats the shoulder of the other figure dressed in SIU wear. The man sighs. “Well, I’m just here to fill in the paperwork,” he says glumly. “Though, if you want to ask Chan hyung to take the case it’s going to take way too long. We’re still working on catching that escaped convict from last week.”

Changbin’s eyes stray to the gory mess before they snap back to the notepad he’s holding. He’s young, Seonghwa realizes. He wonders what place the main branch must be if they’re having kids as young as that handle escaped convicts.

(Then again, _Seonghwa_ is too young to be seeing this.)

After a moment, Changbin clears his throat.

“Well, I need to get back, gotta report to headquarters now. Hope you catch whichever fucker that did this,” he says.

“Changbin,” Sua hisses. “Don’t make me call your captain.”

“Sorry!” Changbin yelps. The young man determinedly avoids looking at the crime scene as he grabs one of the files from the police officer’s hands, nodding his thanks.

He gives a thumbs up to Seonghwa and Yeosang as he speed-walks towards the exit. Seonghwa wishes he could do the same.

The police officer points to places around the crime scene, and he explains something about how the pads of the victims’ fingers and toes had been scraped off. Probably on purpose, he says, because that makes it more difficult for the police to identify whose bodies these are. Right now they’re combing through missing person reports to see if there’s anyone fitting the general sizes of the bodies.

Yeosang looks apathetically concerned.

In the middle of the officer’s long-winded rant about how long it takes to get a DNA analysis from the labs, someone speaks up right in Seonghwa’s ear.

“We’ll take the case,” the voice pipes. Seonghwa nearly jumps when a small hand claps down on his shoulder. It’s Hongjoong, with a flushed face and half-buttoned uniform.

“I’m sorry, Yunho tried to drive as fast as he could,” Hongjoong says. “Sua-ssi, it’s been a long time since we last met-”

His voice trails off as his eyes land on the crime scene. They widen in shock. Before Hongjoong says anything else, though, Sua cuts in with a boisterous grin.

“Hongjoong, I thought we agreed to no formalities last time!” she exclaims. “I trust that you and your boys can catch the sicko behind this then?”

“We’ll do what we can,” Hongjoong says grimly.

Seonghwa leaves him to talk to Sua and the policeman. He doesn’t think he should stay in the warehouse any longer- he likes being able to eat his favorite food (steak) without being reminded of murder victims, thank you very much.

Yeosang gives him a concerned look. Seonghwa grimaces and points to his nose.

Sometimes, having hyper senses isn’t that great.

When he finally makes it outside (after what seems like an eternity), he finds Mingi watching San and Wooyoung argue about something menial while draping himself over Yunho like a starfish.

“Hey.”

“Hyung!” Yunho perks up. “We were wondering where you and Yeosang were. What’s going on inside?”

“Hongjoong didn’t tell you?” Seonghwa hears himself asking.

“We know that we were called in because of a double homicide, but that’s it. I don’t think the captain knew a lot before we hopped in the car,” Wooyoung says.

“It’s bad,” Seonghwa tells them. “We don’t have anything concrete yet but it looks like whoever killed them didn’t do it on accident.”

“Hate crime, maybe?”

“Maybe.”

It really did look like one. Seonghwa swallows a little. The smell still clings to the air, and he can’t shake it. It’s like there’s rust lining his nostrils. He hates the way it shakes him more than it should.

He rubs at his nose roughly.

“We’ll get the debriefing soon enough anyways.” Jongho says calmly.

“Yeah, hyung,” San says. “Don’t worry too much about it!”

Seonghwa tries to smile.

**Author's Note:**

> *ㅁ* Can you guess San and Wooyoung's Quirks?
> 
> P.S. You don't need any knowledge of the Quirk universe to read this fic; simply put, Quirks are just superpowers with specific conditions and more realistic applications. For those of you who know BNHA, the story is set in Korea, not Japan, so the Hero system and Quirk classification is significantly different!


End file.
